The present invention relates to a dial mechanism for a combination lock. In particular, the dial mechanism of the present invention operates to align the tick marks on a dial with an indicator. More particularly, the dial mechanism includes a ring member having a plurality of protrusions that are positioned between and in contact with at least two teeth formed in the dial so that the tick marks are aligned with the indicator.
It is known to use a combination lock to secure an interior compartment of a safe. Combination locks typically include a rotatable dial that allows a user to enter a combination of numbers by manually aligning one or more numbered tick marks on the dial with a stationary indicator located on the safe. On some combination dials, the tick marks may be rather small and positioned close together making it difficult to determine if a selected tick mark is properly aligned with the indicator when entering the combination. Therefore, a user must slowly rotate the dial when approaching the desired tick mark to ensure that the correct combination is being entered.
Some combination dials make a clicking sound to alert the user that the dial has been rotated a certain distance. However, these types of combination dials still allow the dial to be rotated a certain distance in between clicks on the dial. In other words, the tick marks on the dial may not be firmly aligned with the indicator each time the dial is clicked, thereby making it difficult for a user to determine which tick mark is aligned with the indicator. As such, an improper combination may be entered by a user using existing combination dials, which may delay access to the interior compartment of the safe.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a dial mechanism that aligns the tick marks on a combination dial with an indicator. The present invention fills these needs as well as other needs.